This invention relates generally to rescue tools and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for performing emergency extrications.
The purpose of an emergency extrication is to remove an injured victim from a damaged structure, in an orderly and efficient manner that does not facilitate increasing injuries to the victim. Powered portable rescue tools, such as the “POWER HAWK®” which is manufactured and sold by Curtiss Wright Flight Systems, Inc., of Fairfield, N.J., and the “JAWS OF LIFE®”, which is manufactured and sold by Hurst Performance, Inc., of Warminster, Pa., are specialized tools used by rescue personnel to extricate accident victims from vehicles, buildings, and other structures which otherwise impose a difficult or nearly impossible means of egress. These tools typically develop spreading or ramming forces for opening or forcing apart inoperable doors, damaged structures, or blocked pathways.
However, the distance or range over which the spreading or cutting force can be applied is limited to the maximum spreading distance between the ends of the rescue tool. In situations where a larger opening is required, or where a suitable brace, prop, or support is available but located beyond the expandable reach of the rescue tool, the tool could be rendered virtually ineffective. Parts of an automobile, such as the door or steering wheel, may also be so badly damaged and contoured that the expandable range of the rescue tool is insufficient to extricate a victim.
To facilitate increasing the use of such rescue tools, rescue personnel may brace the hydraulic equipment against a brace, such as is described within U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,148. At least some known braces include a plurality of surface platforms extending from a body. The braces typically are positioned against a suitable support and the rescue tool is then braced against the brace during its operation. More specifically, at least some known braces include a plurality of angled platforms extending upwardly from a substantially planar lower surface. The surface platforms are angled to provide a structural support to which the rescue tool is braced.
However, because such braces are typically minimally adjustable, such braces are limited in their application, and are typically only used when space considerations permit their installation. Furthermore, such braces are typically fabricated from heavy-duty material to withstand the forces applied by the rescue tools, and as a result may be cumbersome and heavy to transport and handle. In addition, such braces are only effective when braced against a suitable structure, and as such the rescue tool may still be rendered virtually ineffective in situations when the distance between the portion of the structure to be forced open and the suitable support is too great, or in situations where the vehicle is badly damaged or contoured.